


Blanket Fort Head Rubs

by RogueWolf



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Blanket Forts, Clint and Tony like making bets, Cuddles, Fluff, M/M, Skin Hunger, Touch-Starved, they're not very good at it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:21:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5701537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueWolf/pseuds/RogueWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they were little, Steve and Bucky used to build blanket forts all the time. Decades might have passed since then, but that doesn't mean anything to the two boys from Brooklyn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blanket Fort Head Rubs

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to give a huge thank you to everyone who's been reading and kudo'ing my fics. It's so awesome, seeing that people are enjoying them. You guys are the best!

The team was so used to seeing Steve as Captain America, the stern man with a plan, that when Bucky joined the Avengers, everyone expected **him** to be the needy one, the touch-starved one. They never saw anything beyond the casual shoulder pat or hug, but then again, Bucky and Steve did hang out together a lot, without the rest of the team there to ride herd.

“Who knows what’s going on,” Tony liked to tell the others. “For all we know, there’s two super soldiers getting ready to tear down my tower!”

“I highly doubt they’re going to tear down the place they live in,” Natasha said dryly. She and Clint were sitting at one of the many tables scattered around the rec room, cleaning their pistols and watching Tony pace.

“But that’s just the thing,” Tony protested, throwing up his arms. “We **don’t** know anything! Who knows what’s happening.”

Clint snorted. “Tony, I don’t think anything’s happening. You’re just annoyed that they put JARVIS on privacy mode.” Tony glared at him and Natasha snickered softly. “I bet you that they’re just talking or something, and didn’t want you spying.”

Tony grinned, and Clint narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“I think I’ll take that bet, Agent Barton.” Tony leaned against their table and poked at one of the cleaning wipes. “If I’m right, you owe me a full week’s worth of cooking. Which includes dessert.”

“Whatever, man. When I win, I want some new trick arrows….and a quiver.”

“Deal,” Tony said. The two slapped palms and then looked at Natasha expectantly.

“You two are idiots,” she told them, without looking up from her gun. She put the cleaning rod down, stared at her gun, wiped a speck of dust off the barrel, and then holstered it. “I bet both of you are wrong.” She attached the gun to her thigh and peered up at Clint and Tony through her hair. “I win, you both owe me a favour.”

Clint and Tony exchanged glances and then Clint shrugged. “Deal.

* * *

 

“Do you remember doing this when we were kids?” Steve asked Bucky. “You’d come over and we’d haul everything to the corner and stay up all night.”

“We’d try to stay up,” Bucky corrected with a laugh. “You’d start yawning and then I’d start and the next thing I knew your mom was telling us to get up for breakfast.” He ran a hand through Steve’s hair. “She never understood why we didn’t want to use the beds.”

Steve sighed and closed his eyes, smiling. “Ma always said boys would be the one silly enough to ignore a perfectly good bed to sleep on the floor.” He pushed his cheek harder against Bucky’s thigh. “But I don’t know, you always worked well as a pillow.”

Bucky flicked Steve’s nose and then ran his fingers through Steve’s hair again, fingers trailing across his scalp to trace the edges of his ears. “I remember one time you insisted on carrying all the pillows, plus the blankets, all in one trip, even though they were too heavy.” He smiled fondly. “You ended up tripping on one of the blankets and getting stuck.” Bucky shook with repressed laughter. “You looked like some kind of human roll. You swore off blankets for a whole week.”

“It was summer, Buck,” Steve complained. “You didn’t use blankets either.”

“Mmm, but I was warm. You were the one who was always cold and shivering in your bed because you said you wouldn’t use blankets ever again.”

Steve shoved at Bucky’s leg with a muffled, “Shut up” and a stifled yawn.

Bucky smiled fondly and leaned back against the wall; the lighting around them was dim, courtesy of the blankets tossed across the chairs and pillows, but he could still see flecks of sunlight across them.

“I loved making forts,” he said softly. “It was...nice to be able to build something all our own.” He glanced down at Steve. Steve had shifted and curled himself around Bucky, his head on Bucky’s lap and one arm tossed over Bucky’s legs. Bucky patted Steve’s head. “You always seemed to sleep better when we were inside, as though you felt...I don’t know, safe.”

Steve snuggled closer, but didn’t say anything. Bucky reached out to rest his metal hand on Steve’s back. He missed being able to feel Steve’s warmth, but at least he could still feel the solid weight of flesh and bone, the comforting security that Steve really **was** there with him.

“You used to ask me to give you head rubs back then too. You were always so pushy.” Steve’s lips quirked up in a small smile, but he didn’t reply. “I guess it’s nice to see some things haven’t changed since then.”

They were silent for a while, basking in the humid warmth of the blanket fort, and then Bucky yawned. “My legs are asleep,” he grumped. Steve didn’t say anything, and Bucky frowned and poked him in the side. Steve grunted, but didn’t move, and Bucky realized that Steve was asleep. “Typical,” he grumbled, then yawned again. He could feel his eyes slipping shut. “Next time, you can be the pillow.”

* * *

 

They hadn't seen Steve or Bucky all day. Usually, this wasn't an issue. Most of the Avengers were solitary people, and the others respected that. Steve was different, in that he understood the need for solitude, but he also knew that to make them a well-functioning team, they needed to bond, to grow beyond just themselves.  
  
Long story short, Steve usually tried to see them all at least once a day if he was in the Tower. Not coming out of his rooms at all? That was a mystery. And there was nothing Natasha liked better than solving a mystery, especially if it won her prizes.  
  
The air ducts were ridiculously easy to navigate through, and Natasha realized that Tony must have made them larger than normal, to account for Clint using them as a highway through the Tower. 'Softie,' she thought to herself amusedly. 'All bark and no bite.'  
  
Steve's room was just below hers, and as she crept through the vents, she wondered if Clint was right. Maybe Bucky and Steve *were* just talking. They hadn't seen each other for over 70 years, they did have a lot to catch up on.  
  
She was so busy coming up with ideas that when she finally saw them she froze, unable to believe it.  
  
They were curled up on the floor, Steve resting almost on top of Bucky, who in turn had both arms wrapped around him. They were surrounded by a circle of chairs and sofa pillows, blankets hanging haphazardly across them. One of the blankets was twisted around Bucky's leg, and it was easy to see how the blanket fort had tumbled down.  
  
They looked... peaceful, Natasha thought. Steve had the tiniest of smiles on his face and she felt her heart twist. They so rarely saw Steve smile, unless it was for an interview. Bucky, in turn, looked contented, like someone who had come home at the end of the day to find everything he had dreamed of appear before him.  
  
Natasha smiled softly and then pulled out her phone. She'd make sure Bucky and Steve got a copy later, for now, she had some favours to collect.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Summaries are hard work...It took me longer to write a two-sentence summary than it did for me to write this entire drabble...  
> 2\. I'm starting on the next chapter for Bawk Bawk (I'd Call Your Number), whee!


End file.
